Predictive World was an interactive data visualisation, developed by the Centre for Ubisoft in November 2016. It was built to promote the launch of the Watchdogs 2 video game, in which an innocent protagonist is arrested for a crime he is predicted to commit, by CTOS, a smart city enforcement system.

Working with design agency Sid Lee Paris and production company Stink Digital, we built an engaging, interactive and scientifically robust digital experience to communicate the risks of artificial intelligence and algorithmic bias. The project was enjoyed by 1 million users in the first 3 weeks alone, and has also picked up two of the most coveted design awards in the world.

Predictive World won a D&AD Graphite Pencil in the Digital Design/Websites category, for 'stand-out work, beautifully executed with an original and inspiring idea at its core'. Further information on D&AD and the winning entry is available here.

The project also picked up a Gold Cube for Data Visualisation and a Bronze Cube for Interactive Website at the 96th ADC Awards. The gold entry was announced here and bronze here.

The Centre was responsible for all database management (collating 6.4 billion data points into a matrix organised by IP address), algorithm design (employing location-based as well as psychological predictions) and overall scientific quality (grounding the relationship between variables in peer-reviewed literature). Vess Popov, Chris Gibbons, Jana Hoferkova and Esther Beierl from the Centre did an excellent job on all of this, and we extend our congratulations to them as well as our collaborators.